State of Big Tech: Dismantling Digital Enclosures

IT for Change invites you to the State of Big Tech Dialogue, an online panel discussion to mark the launch of our upcoming report, State of Big Tech: Dismantling Digital Enclosures on the 21st of November, from 7:00- 9:00 PM IST / 2:30 to 4:30 PM CET / 8:30 to 10:30 AM EST.

We invite you to come listen to a panel of key voices – including some of the the volume’s contributors – reflect on the report, the state of the contemporary struggle against Big Tech, the stakes around important battle-grounds being formed today, as well as the potential inherent in current forms of resistance and projects for building an alternative digital economy.

Please register here and a personalized zoom link will be emailed to you.

About the State of Big Tech:

Envisioned as an evolving, year-on-year endeavor that will track and unpack the developments in the Big Tech space, our debut edition of the State of Big Tech is a powerful volume of essays that brings together important perspectives on the corporatization of digital technologies from across regions and constituencies, that touch upon themes including data value chains, sectoral deep-dives, regulatory stalemates, the neo-colonial dimension of the digital economy, the state of platform labour, as well modes of resistance and experiments in building progressive models towards new digital futures.

Complemented with stunning and evocative art work and select expert interviews, the compendium is a critical, inspiring and original contribution that attempts to capture the current phenomenon of digital capitalism.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Advancing the Blue Economy in Kenya

This UNOC2022 side event aims to promote awareness and discussion on how actors can contribute to unlock the full economic possibilities of coastal and marine resources through interventions that involve effective participation of all relevant people while protecting these resources for present and future generation, while developing ecosystem resilience.

The event is aligned with UNOC22 interactive dialogue “Promoting and strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, in particular for small island developing States and least developed countries” and it will be centered on a technical debate with the thematic focus “How innovative solutions applied to the blue economy sector can help harnessing its potential and be beneficial for coastal communities in an inclusive, participatory, and sustainable manner?

Please register by 27^th June 2022 here: https://forms.gle/nyhoS5MJtWdm5QrLA

After successful registration confirmation, you will receive a guest link. All confirmed guests are requested to login 10 minutes before the event time using the link that will be provided after registration confirmation. Please note that the event will be conducted in English.

The Go Blue Kenya project is a partnership between the European Union and the Government of Kenya to advance the blue economy agenda in Kenya through coastal development. The overall objective of the 4 year Go Blue project is to contribute to coastal economic development in an inclusive, integrated, participatory, and sustainable manner. The project is funded by the European Union.

Contacts:
Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I. P.
Paula Alexandra Ribeiro Mota Vilela de Oliveira
Tourism and Cultural Heritage Go Blue Component Leader
Paula.Oliveira@camoes.mne.pt

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

UN Webinar on the COVID-19 Impact on Transfer Pricing

The COVID-19 outbreak is not only a health crisis, but a jobs crisis, a humanitarian crisis and a development crisis of unprecedented scale and dimension and it demands unprecedented efforts, including to finance the response and recovery.

The UN Webinar on the COVID-19 Impact on Transfer Pricing will be a 4-hour virtual learning event on the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the policy and administrative aspects of the transfer pricing analyses for developing countries in their efforts to mobilize domestic resources for response and recovery. Given the relevance of the topic to stakeholders from all regions and multiple disciplines, the event will be open to the public. The forthcoming update of the Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, approved by UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters in its 21st Session, will be considered in light of the COVID-19-related crisis.

Register here!

The webinar is designed to:

• Give participants a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business’ value chains and how the rapid changes and economic downturn have impacted the transfer pricing position of taxpayers and posed a challenge to tax administrations in assessing transfer prices under these circumstances.

• Identify some of the specific issues faced by developing countries on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transfer pricing position of their taxpayers and suggest practical solutions to these challenges.

• Give particular attention to the issue of the lack of local comparables to undertake the transfer pricing analysis based on the arm’s length principle. It is acknowledged that this issue is not exclusive of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been exacerbated by it.

• It is acknowledged that while many businesses have incurred losses, some may have experienced extraordinary gains. It is important for developing countries to identify these different circumstances and have a better understanding of how to deal with extraordinary losses, as undue treatment of losses can further erode the tax base.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021 on Trade: From short-term disruptions to longer-term resilience

UNCTAD Trade Policy Dialogue

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021 on trade: From short-term disruptions to longer-term resilience

Please register online at https://unctad.org/meeting/world-economic-situation-and-prospects2021-trade-short-term-disruptions-longer-term

This Trade Policy Dialogue is organized by UNCTAD in partnership with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The session will discuss major findings in the flagship report World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021, which assesses key trends in international trade and agenda for policy, including the roles of global value chains and services in enhancing economic resilience.

Questions:

How do we overcome short-term trade disruptions to reinforce longer-term resilience?
How do we take advantage of dynamic comparative advantage and “servicification”?
How do different countries see the need to revitalize the multilateral trading system?

Programme Agenda:

2:30 p.m. Opening

2:35 p.m. Panel discussion moderated by Miho Shirotori, Head, Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch, UNCTAD

Panelists:

Ingo Pitterle, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Global Economic Monitoring Branch, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Bruno Antunes, Economic Affairs Officer, Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch, UNCTAD
Polina Tonkikh, Director, World Trade Organization Expertise Centre, Russian Federation

3:20 p.m. Questions and answers

3:35 p.m. Closing

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

value chains